Senior Program Manager / Associate Program Director | Agile | Delivery

Happiest Minds Technologies; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 6,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Happiest Minds Technologies in Bengaluru is seeking an experienced Associate Program Director to lead large-scale programs and strategic customer engagements. The role focuses on program/delivery management, agile leadership, and SDLC governance, with a track record of cross-functional leadership and customer success.

The ideal candidate will bring 18+ years of IT experience, including 5-6 years in leadership of complex programs, and a strong ability to drive operational excellence and

Qualifications

• Experience in managing large-scale programs and strategic customer engagements.
• Strong understanding of Agile, Scrum, and delivery governance frameworks.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of large-scale programs and strategic initiatives.
• Lead multiple projects and cross-functional teams to ensure successful execution.
• Drive program planning, execution, governance, and delivery excellence.
• Ensure projects are delivered within scope, timelines, budget, and quality expectations.

Skills

Program Management

Delivery Management

Stakeholder Management

Risk Management

Agile Methodology

Scrum Framework

SDLC Management

Project Governance

Customer Management

Escalation Management

Resource Planning

Delivery Excellence

Financial Management

Team Leadership

Executive Reporting

Job description

Job description :

Associate Program Director - Program Management

Location: Bengaluru

Experience: 18+ Years

Job Summary:

We are seeking an experienced Associate Program Director with 18+ years of industry experience and 5-6 years of leadership experience managing large-scale programs and strategic customer engagements.

The ideal candidate will possess strong expertise in Program Management, Delivery Management, Agile/Scrum, Stakeholder Management, Risk Management, and SDLC Governance. The candidate should have a proven track record of leading large engineering programs, managing customer relationships, driving operational excellence, and delivering business outcomes.

Experience in SaaS platforms, software development lifecycle management, and AI-enabled delivery practices will be an added advantage.

Key Responsibilities:

Program & Delivery Management

• Own end-to-end delivery of large-scale programs and strategic initiatives.
• Lead multiple projects and cross-functional teams to ensure successful execution.
• Drive program planning, execution, governance, and delivery excellence.
• Ensure projects are delivered within scope, timelines, budget, and quality expectations.

Stakeholder Management

• Engage with customers, business leaders, delivery teams, and senior management.
• Manage communication related to project requirements, staffing, financials, contracts, and delivery commitments.
• Conduct regular governance reviews and executive status reporting.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Risk & Escalation Management

• Proactively identify program risks and dependencies.
• Develop mitigation plans and drive risk resolution.
• Manage customer and delivery escalations effectively.
• Ensure timely decision-making and issue resolution.

Agile Program Leadership:

• Lead Agile and Scrum-based delivery programs.
• Drive Agile adoption and best practices across teams.
• Facilitate program governance, sprint reviews, retrospectives, and release planning.
• Monitor delivery metrics and continuous improvement initiatives.

SDLC & Engineering Governance:

• Oversee the complete Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
• Ensure adherence to engineering standards, quality processes, and release governance.
• Collaborate with technical teams to support architecture, development, testing, and deployment activities.
• Drive operational excellence and delivery maturity.

Reporting & Operational Excellence:

• Track and publish delivery metrics, project health reports, resource utilization, and program dashboards.
• Manage financial governance, forecasting, and resource planning.
• Ensure visibility of program status, risks, and dependencies to leadership.

Technology & Innovation:

• Leverage technology and automation to improve delivery efficiency.
• Work closely with engineering teams supporting SaaS-based platforms.
• Promote adoption of AI-enabled tools and practices where appropriate.
• Support AI-driven development and deployment initiatives.

Mandatory Skills

• Program Management
• Delivery Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Risk Management
• Agile Methodology
• Scrum Framework
• SDLC Management
• Project Governance
• Customer Management
• Escalation Management
• Resource Planning
• Delivery Excellence
• Financial Management
• Team Leadership
• Executive Reporting

Preferred Skills

• SaaS Platform Management
• Software Development Background
• DevOps and Release Management Awareness
• Automation Initiatives
• AI Tools and AI-Assisted Delivery
• Agentic AI Awareness
• SDD (Software Defined Delivery) Exposure
• Strategic Program Governance
• Digital Transformation Programs

Required Experience

• 18+ years of overall IT industry experience.
• 5-6+ years managing large-scale programs and strategic customer engagements.
• Proven experience leading multiple projects and distributed delivery teams.
• Strong understanding of Agile, Scrum, and delivery governance frameworks.
• Experience in stakeholder management across customers, leadership teams, and engineering organizations.
• Experience managing risks, escalations, dependencies, and delivery challenges.
• Strong understanding of software development, deployment, and SDLC processes.
• Experience managing SaaS-based platforms is highly desirable.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and leadership skills.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Strong program leader with end-to-end ownership mindset.
• Excellent customer-facing and stakeholder management abilities.
• Proven experience managing large-scale, complex delivery programs.
• Strong decision-making and risk management skills.
• Ability to lead diverse and geographically distributed teams.
• Results-oriented leader with focus on operational excellence and customer success.
• Passion for continuous improvement, innovation, and AI-enabled delivery practices.